


Red Really Is Your Color

by shcherbatskayas



Category: Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Casinos, F/M, For a Friend, Tags Are Hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 05:54:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12575140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shcherbatskayas/pseuds/shcherbatskayas
Summary: Getting involved with the yakuza, Fuyuhiko figured, was unavoidable at this point. But with Peko at the head of it, he didn't even mind





	Red Really Is Your Color

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thewildwilds](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewildwilds/gifts).



> Idk why the additional tags are being so weird, but it's not letting me add that this is for the awesome Gambler/Yakuza AU made by thewildwilds's, who is generally awesome and whose stuff you should check out. This is probably the last thing I'll have up before NaNoWriMo, and also happy Halloween! <3

Four months. That’s how long it took for Peko Pekoyama to ask where he would be next. It took Fuyuhiko four months of visiting the Pekoyama clan’s casinos and seeing her nearly every Friday and getting himself neck deep into the world of the scariest girl he ever met before she said something that suggested that she had some form of interest in him. If it was anyone else, he would’ve given up trying to impress them by now, but this was Peko Pekoyama. The only thing that would make Fuyuhiko give up on her was a direct order to do so from the girl herself. 

“I was thinking of hitting up Tokyo. Haven’t been there in a while. Why’re you askin’?” Fuyuhiko lied through his teeth, and did so extraordinarily well. It was part of being a gambler, and a part he was always good at. Fuyuhiko wasn’t going to go to Tokyo, he was going to go one town over just like always because that was where Peko would be.

“I need you to do me a favor.” She said, folding her hands delicately in her lap. Even in a casino in the bad part of town, Peko kept the posture of a princess, back perfectly straight, chin angled ever-so-slightly up, and eyes in the perfect position to look down on whoever she was speaking to if she chose to do so. “If you’re successful, consider all of your debts gone.”

Fuyuhiko’s eyes lit up at the concept of being debt-free, even though he had been in debt for less than a month. The debt was owed to a lower-level member of her clan, but a member nonetheless, and it served as a stumbling block between them. Fuyuhiko technically had enough money to pay the man back now, but doing so would mean he would only have 30,000 yen. 30,000 yen meant that he and Natsumi would be on the streets for at least one day of the week, and when they had first set up their business plan when they were skinny ten-year-olds living under a bridge in Kobe, they swore that they would never be on the streets again. “Well, what do you need, princess?”

Peko wrinkled her nose at the nickname and Fuyuhiko was repulsed with himself for how charming he found the gesture. Every subtle move she made, every word from her mouth, every glance and sigh and adjustment of the glasses left him feeling amazed. “Next Friday, meet me at eight ‘o clock in the evening outside of the Ritz in Osaka. You’ll be staying there, by the way. Wear the nicest suit you have. We’ll be going on a date.”

“A date?” Fuyuhiko took a sip from his drink, trying to hide his shock and the fact that he was blushing up to his ears. “Well, where will--Fuck, watch where you’re going, asshole! There’s a lady here!--Um, where will this date be?” He interrupted his own question to yell at a drunkard who nearly spilled his drink on Peko, even though it was hardly necessary for him to do so. Peko already had a knife to his throat, whispering something he couldn’t hear that sent the man running. 

“A casino. Not one of ours, but it will be by the end of the night.” She smirked as she said that, putting away the knife and leaning in so that Fuyuhiko could hear her better. He moved forward as well, trying to look like he couldn’t give less of a damn about Peko Pekoyama and their date on Friday if he tried and failing miserably. He didn’t miss that she said “ours” instead of “mine” and he silently thanked whoever made the Japanese language (probably some boring old monk, but Fuyuhiko didn’t know) for including plural pronouns. “It’s owned by the Munakata clan. It used to be ours until my uncle lost it during his brief time in control of the clan. I’ve been put in charge of bringing it back. I can negotiate with Munakata just fine, but the issue we have is with one of his mid-level lackeys, Juzo Sakakura. While they’re some of the finest men in Japan, he could take out half of my bodyguards with no problem when he’s focused, but he can’t resist a good game of poker. I need you to go there and give him one. He’s more distracted and easier to beat when he’s losing. The negotiation is bound to end violently, so when I give the signal, we need to fight. Bring a knife with you at the very least. A gun, maybe, if you think you can hide one. They like to check for weapons at the door. If we get this casino, consider yourself out of debt with my clan. If it fails…”

“It won’t!” Fuyuhiko declared. “Not because of me, anyways. I’ll give Sakakura the best game of poker he’s ever had in his goddamn life. He won’t pick up a deck of cards for three years once I’m done with him.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Peko said, giving him a small smile. It was stupid, how endearing she found his confidence and earnest to do this properly and get himself out of the hole. She took out a piece of paper and wrote something down on it before handing it to him. “That’s my phone number. The signal is the bumblebee emoji followed by the number sixty-five. Text me beforehand so that I have your number and don’t type anything that you wouldn’t want the police to read.”

Fuyuhiko took out his phone and entered the number, already plotting out the perfect text to send her. “Got it. Anything else I need to know?”

“The room is already paid for. All you have to do is go up to the front desk and give them your name and the name of your sister. If it fails, you’ll be paying me back for the room plus interest. A limo is already on the way to your current hotel. Please ensure that your sister doesn’t stab any of my drivers in a panic. Other than that, you know all that you need to know.” She said, getting up from her chair and smoothing out her kimono. 

“Alright. See ya next Friday.” Fuyuhiko smiled at her and tipped his hat, which made Peko roll her eyes, but he could tell that there was nothing malicious behind the gesture. 

“I suppose I’ll see you then.” Peko turned to leave the casino and Fuyuhiko watched her walk away, turning to the nearest drunk and offering him the seat she just occupied. He was feeling lucky enough to take them for everything they had and then some, which he was able to do before he head back to the hotel.

***

“I can’t believe this shit. I can’t believe it! Not only are you going on a date with a yakuza heiress, but we’re staying at the fucking Ritz rent-free?! Oh my GOD!” Natsumi exclaimed, stretching out in the back of the limo. “We’re going to the Ritz on the fucking _yakuza’s_ dime! Do you understand how awesome this is? I feel like you don’t understand how awesome this is.”

“I do.” Fuyuhiko said, almost smiling at just how over-the-top his sister was being. After she accidentally took the limo driver hostage since she believed it to be a scam, she warmed up to the idea since her research showed that despite his fondness for the game, Juzo was a player that Fuyuhiko could beat in half an hour if he put his mind to it. “Just as long as it goes well, this will be the best week since Sapporo.”

“Oh, this _will_ go well. I’ll have your head on a silver platter if it doesn’t.” Natsumi said, taking three selfies in a row just because she could. “Do you know how much room service I’m going to get?”

“None of it?”

“Literally all of it. The head chef there is kinda creepy but like, a really good chef. We’ll have chocolate volcano cake every night!” That concept made Natsumi smile. “I follow this guy on Instagram, I need to show you his cake. It’s the best thing I’ve ever seen, except for when I look in the mirror.”

“When did Natsumi become such an arrogant little shit?” Fuyuhiko asked, looking at the mini fridge in the limo as if it had the answer.

“When did Fuyuhiko become so emotionally repressed and weird that he couldn’t go on a date with a cute girl without involving illegal casinos and the biggest yakuza clan in the country?” Natsumi asked the fridge in return, earning herself a light smack on the shoulder with the piece of paper that had Peko’s number on it. She grabbed that paper, shielding it from Fuyuhiko and analyzing the handwriting. 

“Oh my god, this is her number. This is totally her number. I’M TEXTING HER RIGHT NOW!”

“NO, YOU ARE NOT! HOLY FUCK NATSUMI, PUT THE PHONE DOWN!”

The twins spent the next half an hour debating over Natsumi’s right to text Peko and what Fuyuhiko should say in a manner that was all around ridiculous but mostly entertaining. The driver smiled to himself, silently approving of Peko’s choice in guests. They were sure to be fun.

***

_natsumi has texted an unknown number_

natsumi: hey so is this peko’s number????? i stole it from fuyu’s phone lmao. had to use crazy detective skills to find out his passcode tho because he’s so Extra.

unknown number: Who is this?

natsumi: i’m natsumi!!!! the evil twin. the brains of the operation. super cool super genius. meme queen supreme. we met last week when i spilled my ice cream and then blamed you for ruining my life but now we sort of have a deal to exist in peace until fuyu figures out what the fresh fuck it is he’s doing? 

unknown number: Prove it. 

natsumi here!!! literally just took this sick limo selfie with the nerd in the background. reverse image search away, but you won’t find it anywhere but here. 

_unknown number has opened MyBrotherIsASleepingDumbass.jpg_

unknown number: I will now research this image. If you are not who you say you are, you will pay for this. 

natsumi: okay! but i see why fuyu is so into you like oh my god. spooooooooooky shit. he’s probably super into that. 

unknown number: It appears you are who you say you are. What is your purpose for initiating this conversation? 

natsumi: other than the fact that i’ve been dragged all over japan bc my nerd brother wants to visit your casinos? you seem like a cool chick. we can bond over him being dumb and also being the scariest girls around. this could be a good friendship and a good alliance.

natsumi: also what do you want your contact name to be??? because like. the day someone gets a normal contact name is the day i die, but i’m giving you some agency here.

unknown numer: Just my name would suffice.

natsumi: cool! but no. it’s gotta have some flair.

unknown number:...

unknown number: Why?

natsumi: because!

unknown number: That is not a reason. 

natsumi: meh. 

unknown number: This is quite ridiculous, you know. 

natsumi: i know. but fuyu’s asleep so i gotta amuse myself SOMEHOW. so this is your last chance before i change it to “So Out Of His League, Like Holy Shit”

unknown number: Give me a moment.

natsumi: 60,59, 58…

unknown number: Change it to Hecko Heckoyama.

natsumi: coolio!

_unknown number is now hecko heckoyama_

natsumi: can i ask why hecko tho?????

hecko heckoyama: I was informed by a maid that adding “heck” to words was what she called a “dank meme” from a while ago. 

natsumi: oh my god. 

natsumi: tell her i love her. 

natsumi: also how behind are you on the memes?????

hecko: I do not have time to keep up with popular culture. 

natsumi: tragic. worst thing i’ve heard in years. you could be a meme queen and yet. this. anyways, another reason to be my friend--i can keep you in the loop!

natsumi: also you already have the seal of approval, secret motive one of five hundred thousand was trying to see if you were good for my brother and you’ve passed. you looked up a meme that’s the cutest thing i’ve ever heard.

hecko: An alliance between us does seem to be advantageous. Although why do you think that your brother and I have romantic feelings for each other?

natsumi: because i have fucking eyes and ears lmao. do you know how much lovesick rambling i’ve listened to????? 

hecko: I cannot say that I do. 

natsumi: SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! seriously make out already oh my god i am begging you

hecko: Things are not quite that simple. 

natsumi: once it gets worked out, then. please. 

hecko:...I will consider it. 

natsumi: i can feel the love via text. i’m so about this. get this romantic tension resolved already or we’re all gonna DIE. heck, hecko, do it for me if you won’t do it for yourself so that i don’t have to keep hearing about it. so over it. 

hecko: You do know that I could very easily have your head for that statement, don’t you? It could be taken as a grave insult. And that applies to most of your previous statements, too. 

natsumi: i know, but you love me so you won’t <3

hecko: I said no such thing.

natsumi: it was implied! gtg tho, fuyu is gonna wake up and lose his goddamn MIND if he sees me texting you. if he does i’ll record it tho it would be legendary. 

natsumi: bye!!!!!

hecko: Goodbye. 

***

The next week was, as predicted, one of the best weeks they ever had. Natsumi did indeed order chocolate volcano cake on the yakuza’s dime every night that Teruteru would agree to make it for her and the novelty of it never quite wore off. Fuyuhiko played blackjack and poker with the bigwigs and brought in more money during that week than he had in the past month combined. Natsumi collected blackmail on everyone in the hotel and collected even more money through bribery before she went on a shopping spree, happily showing off her new prizes to her brother and Peko, who seemed to begrudgingly begin to grow fond of her. 

Friday evening was one of the more exciting periods of time in Natsumi’s life, if only because everything was hysterical to her. She was in the nicest hotel she had ever been in during her sixteen years of living, texting a yakuza heiress and dining on caviar made by a man who still wore Axe cologne while her brother panicked about his date. Fuyuhiko took out every suit he had, tried each one on three times, cursed the designer of every single one, tried them on again, went out to buy a new suit, deemed that one the ugliest one yet, and finally settled on a suit he bought from the one time he and Natsumi left Japan to play an underground tournament in Shanghai. Then there was dealing the business of ties, which was ten times worse.

“Why can’t I just wear a black one again? It’s a classic look!” Fuyuhiko asked as Natsumi sat atop the pile of black ties she had collected.

“Because it’s boring! It’s predictable! It sucks! You want to wow her, don’t you? This is your first date!” She reminded, chucking a dress shoe at him. 

“Shut up! It’s not a date! It’s business!” He said, throwing it right back at her. 

“Really? Because I remember a certain someone calling it a date.” Natsumi teased, using the shoe as a makeshift puppet and imitating her brother as she spoke. “Natsumi, I have a date~ She’s this amazing yakuza heiress and she’s so _smart_ and _beautiful_ and _strong_ and--”

“Shut the fuck up and help me pick out a tie!” He held up two of them to his shirt. “Green or blue?”

“Hold still a moment!” Natsumi said, digging out her phone and taking a picture.

“What are you doing?” Fuyuhiko asked, frowning at her. 

“You’ll see.” She smirked as she began to text Peko.

***

_natsumi has texted hecko heckoyama_

natsumi: green or blue??????

_hecko heckoyama has opened TieDiscourse1.jpg_

hecko heckoyama: Blue. 

natsumi: good choice. 

natsumi: blue or yellow???

_hecko heckoyama has opened TieDiscourse2.jpg_

hecko heckoyama: Blue again. Tell him to burn the yellow one. The last time I saw something so hideous, I was looking at Byakuya Togami.

natsumi: oh shit!!!!!! that burn!!!!! he’s gonna need aloe vera or some shit oh my godddddddddd

hecko heckoyama: I do not believe Aloe Vera will undo the damage. 

natsumi: tru life my girl. also fuyu refuses to get rid of the tie i hate him. even if i told him you hated it, i think he would still insist on keeping it. said it’s lucky or something. i told him it was fucky.

natsumi: also blue or orange???

_hecko heckoyama has opened TieDiscourse3.jpg_

hecko: Orange. Also, what does he believe you’re doing at the moment if not texting me?

natsumi: dumb boy thinks that taking a picture of the ties and then fucking with the settings of it will show what it’ll look like in different lightings. normally he’d pick up on this sort of thing but like. 

natsumi: i’m the one who taught him how to lie and thus i’m better than him at it. also he has no idea how fashion anything works. 

hecko heckoyama: Clever. Is he not aware of our acquaintance? 

natsumi: not yet. also omg thank you!!!!! i have been blessed with a compliment @ god i do not deserve this blessing.

hecko heckoyama: Is that sarcasm?

natsumi: honestly i wish it was but no. 

natsumi: orange or red???

_hecko heckoyama has opened TieDiscourse4.jpg_

hecko heckoyama: Red.

natsumi: good choice. tbh i thought the orange one was annoying

natsumi: ALSO what the fuck are you wearing because you need to match

hecko heckoyama: Is that a normal thing that is done in these situations?

natsumi: no but it would be really fucking cute so we’re doing it man. WE’RE MAKING IT HAPPEN!

hecko heckoyama: I am not cute. 

natsumi: being scary doesn’t mean you’re not also super cute, dumbass. 

natsumi: red or pink?

_hecko heckoyama has opened TieDiscourse5.jpg_

hecko heckoyama: Red again. 

natsumi: awwwwwww i was hoping for pink. have you ever seen fuyu in pink???? he gets so pissy about it and it’s great.

hecko heckoyama: Why? Pink is an agreeable color.

natsumi: yeah but he’s a pissbaby who thinks pink is too girly.

hecko heckoyama: My bodyguards wear pink ties fairly frequently. They don’t complain.

natsumi: yeah but your bodyguards aren’t pissbabies.

hecko heckoyama: What does that phrase mean?

natsumi: hell if i know. also, which red tie????

_hecko heckoyama has opened TieDiscourse6.jpg_

hecko heckoyama: The one on the left. 

natsumi: so the final winner is that one?

_hecko heckoyama has opened FinalTieDiscourse.jpg_

hecko heckoyama: Yes. It’s a very nice tie. 

hecko heckoyama: But if you can, convince him to get rid of the yellow one. It makes him look like a...

hecko heckoyama: A pissbaby, I believe is the phrase that would be most appropriate. 

natsumi: peko. 

natsumi: peko. 

natsumi: p e k o. 

natsumi: did you know that you’re like. the real MVP. i’ve been dying of laughter for like the past minute i lfjoajofdsjajvjewhojfaoihvsajklfj joiadsj ojeoiaj afja

hecko heckoyama: Did you have a stroke? I hope that you didn’t, that would be unfortunate. 

natsumi: IGNORE WHATEVER THE FUCK NATS SENT YOU SHEJALKJFKLADJKLFJAKJ JA OJIAFJ AOPEWAF

hecko heckoyama: Oh, there appears to be some sort of struggle for the phone. Amusing. Also, hello Fuyuhiko. 

natsumi: I LITERALLY HATE MY SISTER SO MUCH also hello 

natsumi: jfasjpvonaro oia uhaiofjlk ho ejoi oia fhdsajiea fa gaiojf fd fuyu is still in love with you btw lmaooooj dsajoifjapoeaojfoijafoi aoife aoiipe ipfpug ssajofja; ppa 

***

The limo pulled up in front of the Ritz Carlton in Osaka at exactly eight in the evening. It was followed by a smaller car which contained Peko’s bodyguards, who were all rather amused by the situation at hand, but strictly forbidden from expressing their amusement to anyone but each other. Natsumi watched her brother enter the car from the hotel window, stifling a giggle behind her hand when he tripped on the edge of the sidewalk. This was certainly going to be fun to hear about later. 

The thing about yakuza limos, Fuyuhiko figured out, was that they were fairly discreet for limos. They looked just like the ones that he saw at airports. It certainly didn’t look like the car used by a criminal organization, but that was what made it so brilliant. It was subtle yet dangerous. Fuyuhiko couldn’t help but love it. 

“Hey, princess.” He said as soon as he got into the car. “Ready to take over a casino?”

“More than ready.” She assured him, glancing at Fuyuhiko out of the corner of her eye. Just as the photos Natsumi sent assured her, Fuyuhiko looked nice. His hat was slightly crooked, but it somehow added to his charm. Peko almost hated that she was charmed at all. “And you?”

“I’m every level of ready. I brought the lucky knives just in case, but even without them, we’d be more than fine.” Fuyuhiko grinned at her, not willing to admit that he had only seen a casino get taken over once and had nearly gotten his throat slit in the chaos of it all and so he was just a little bit scared. Just a little bit. But he had improved his fighting skills since then, and he had backup in the form of the actual yakuza. He just had to trust that they wouldn’t betray him last minute. 

“Hm. We would, but the gesture is appreciated.” Peko gave him a not-quite-a-smile smile and then showed him the gun she had managed to hide in her kimono sleeve. “I don’t believe in luck, but things have typically gone well when I’ve used this one.” 

“That’s genius.” Fuyuhiko said, referring to how she managed to hide the gun. “Kimono sleeves actually have a use for once.”

“Everything has a use. You just have to look for it.” Peko told him, watching as Osaka passed them by. “Have things been going well for you at the Ritz?”

“Better than well. I’ve been brushing up on my poker skills with some of the guests and geez, either I’m better at that game than I remember or the guys in the Ritz are fuckin’ morons. I nearly took a French businessman’s entire company, but I decided against it. What the hell would I do with a fabric company anyways?” Fuyuhiko shrugged as he remembered the man with the strange accent putting his entire company on the line. “I just took his money instead.”

“You almost took his entire company?” Peko repeated, a glimpse of her surprise crossing her face. He was a more useful ally than she thought, if he could take whole businesses and hand them over to her. He seemed casual about the whole affair, like it was almost a normal event, and she could barely believe it. But he didn’t seem to be lying--Peko had picked up on most of his tells, subtle as they were--and so she had to assume he was telling the truth. 

“Yup! Apparently he imports fancy fabrics. Kept talking about them in the middle of the game, too. Did you know that a silkworm apparently eat 40,000 times its own weight in mulberry leaves over its life? I didn’t, but that guy did. Then he started crying about how he accidentally stepped on a silk worm once. I wish I could say he was drunk off his ass, but all he drank was sparkling grape juice. That’s literally just his personality.” Fuyuhiko couldn’t help but chuckle as he thought of the man, and Peko’s eye roll hinted to him that she found the story as amusing as he did. 

“If I hadn’t met people at least that strange in the Ritz, I’d accuse you of lying.” Peko said. “But those who gain their wealth from more...legitimate means than I do tend to be very odd.”

“That’s a word for it.” Fuyuhiko agreed. “But hey, they make piss-poor gamblers, and that’s great for me. Plus, they do enough weird shit in their free time that Natsumi’s been having a blackmail field day. The silk guy was the only one wouldn’t pay her bribe, so now she’s planning on making his weird silkworm fetish--yeah, he has a silkworm fetish, that was the face I made, too--become public knowledge. Nobody wants to buy silk from a dude who wants to be fucked by silkworms. Au revoir to Jacques’s Fabrics, I guess.”

Peko couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation. It was a real, proper laugh, not the dignified little giggle she made when she just took over someone’s business or the sarcastic chuckle she made when she saw something so stupid that she couldn’t help but look down on it. “Au revoir, indeed.” She said once she finished laughing, amusement still obvious in her voice. Fuyuhiko kept telling her stories about the strange people he met that week, from the chef that Natsumi all but held hostage for chocolate volcano cake to the couple who could not stop fighting about if Gucci should be pronounced Gucki or not. It was stupid and light-hearted and entirely unprofessional, and Peko couldn’t remember the last time she had so much fun listening to someone talk. 

Their stories lasted all the way until the casino in question appeared on their left. Fuyuhiko and Peko looked at it as the limo stopped, already noting emergency exits and fire escapes. 

“Sakakura should be at his normal table towards the back. Don’t head there straight away--you don’t want to seem obvious. I’ll be getting out a little further down the street. It’s best that they don’t know that we came here together.” Peko told him while they stared at the anonymous gray building that, on the outside, resembled every other building around it. 

“Sounds good. Catch you later.” Fuyuhiko tipped his hat as he exited the limo and then head towards the building, making a point of not looking back. He wasn’t sure why, but not glancing back at Peko was extraordinarily difficult. By the time he gave into the impulse, she was already gone and he shook his head. It wasn’t time to think about things like that. It was time to put their game plan into action. 

***

When Peko and her bodyguards arrived at the casino, Fuyuhiko was midway through a game of baccarat with a visiting Italian friend of the Munakata clan. He had a nice taste in shoes and Fuyuhiko was debating whether or not if it was worth it to make a deal involving the shoes when Peko and her bodyguards walked in. A strange silence fell upon the room when she entered, but Fuyuhiko tried not to seem too curious. He was just another bystander as far as most of the room was concerned. Peko sat down at a different baccarat table and Fuyuhiko wisely decided to stay out of it. Now was the time to get to Sakakura before any official meeting could begin, not to linger near Peko. 

Fuyuhiko let the Italian man keep his shoes, but he didn’t let him keep the 15,000 yen he had put on the table. A game was a game, after all. He sat down in the empty seat at Sakakura’s table and found it filled with unfamiliar faces talking about people he had even less of a clue about. 

“And who’s the kid?” He heard someone ask, someone who sounded like he was partially in charge but not in charge enough to be involved in the conversation between Peko and Munakata that was occurring in the back room. Fuyuhiko got a closer look at his face, and yes, this was Juzo. This was his target. 

“Name’s Kuzuryuu. Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko. I decided to just drop in for a few games. Seems like a good way to kill time.” Fuyuhiko held out his hand to Juzo, who considered it for a moment before shaking it. 

“Seems like a good way for you to lose your pocket money, boy. You ever even played a game of poker?” Juzo sneered at him and Fuyuhiko was tempted to spit at him, to remind him that he had cleaned out more casinos than he could count and would have his wallet in his hand within the hour, but no. He would be more distracted and upset and able to be manipulated if he thought he was getting his ass beat by an ameatuer. 

“Once or twice.” He lied easily, putting on the confidence worn by amateurs instead of his usual confidence. Not being able to see the disguise beneath the disguise, Juzo smirked. 

“Deal him in.” He said to the young woman with the cards, who obediently started passing cards to him as well. Fuyuhiko noticed the outline of a gun strapped to her thigh and started planning around that. If he could duck under the table and stab her in the leg, or if he could get behind her, he could easily get to Sakakura and one lucky slice was all he would need. 

The first round, Fuyuhiko bet a few of his chips and put in a decent card. Juzo fell in the middle of the pack as well, not having the worst card but not winning against the red-haired woman who kept poking him in the arm and talking about her day job as a school teacher. The second round, Fuyuhiko played the same trick. It was in round three that he started twisting things in his favor, seeing through bluffs and playing his best cards. 

“Beginner’s luck.” Sakakura declared the first time Fuyuhiko won a round. 

“Hmph. Must be a fluke.” Sakakura said the second time. 

“What the fuck?” He said the third time, noticing that Fuyuhiko had racked up a miniature mountain of chips, so tall that it almost went up to his chin. 

“Get us a different dealer!” Juzo demanded the sixth round. “This kid has to be collaborating with her! God dammit Seiko, I’m gonna get you for this one. I swear to god.”

They changed card dealers three times before Juzo gave up on that being the issue. He accused Fuyuhiko of counting cards, but no one could count when Izayoi was dealing, not even the best. Then he accused him of blackmailing other players to let him win, but that was so baseless that no one took him seriously. As he started drinking more, Juzo started betting more, and soon had 50,000 yen on the table. 

“Must be beginner’s luck.” Fuyuhiko echoed when the game ended and he cashed in his chips, earning himself 70,000 yen, almost all of it from Sakakura. 

“Bullshit! We’re playing again.” Sakakura demanded, and Fuyuhiko shrugged. 

“Fine by me.”

Halfway through the second game, various lackeys started coming up to Sakakura and whispering things to him, but he waved them away irritably as he focused on the game, but he just couldn’t win. Not against Fuyuhiko, who knew the shuffle of cards better than he knew how to write his own name. He didn’t even stand a chance, but he couldn’t force himself to give up, not when he had accidentally put his pride on that table. 

A quarter of the way through the fourth game is when Fuyuhiko got the text from Peko. He got up the second he got it, suddenly enough that a few people turned to him, but their attention was soon drawn to the door of the back room, which had been flung open by one of Peko’s bodyguards. He had somehow managed to sneak a semi-automatic into the casino and shot one of the dealers, and after that, panic broke out. 

Most people head for the door. That wasn’t surprising. People liked to escape situations like these, especially if they weren’t explicitly yakuza. Just a few months ago, Fuyuhiko would’ve joined them. But now he had a job to do, and that job was plunging a knife in Juzo Sakakura’s stomach before he could get to Peko. 

The stab didn’t incapacitate him as much as Fuyuhiko figured it would. He screamed, of course, but he kept trying to head towards the back room where Munakata certainly was. Not even when Fuyuhiko managed to get him in the back did he stop. It was almost like Fuyuhiko was merely an annoying fly buzzing around his head rather than an actual threat. 

After the third stab, a light but mildly painful thing, Juzo realized it would be best to get rid of him. He landed a punch to Fuyuhiko’s throat and Fuyuhiko stumbled backwards, leaning against the table to keep himself from falling over. Juzo got away for a second, but Fuyuhiko forced himself to run after him. He couldn’t let him near Peko. Sure, Peko could handle herself, but he didn’t want it to come to that.

It wasn’t until Fuyuhiko felt a pain in his chest at the idea of Peko getting hurt did he realize that his interest in her went a good deal further than an intellectual interest and a love of being annoying. Somewhere, he had started actually caring about her and people he cared about didn’t get hurt, not on his watch. He almost didn’t have a choice in stopping Juzo. 

With all of his remaining strength, Fuyuhiko tackled him like he had seen American football players do on TV. It worked, and once he was on the ground, Fuyuhiko grabbed his head and smacked it off the floor. Not hard enough to kill him, but hard enough to knock him out and give him a nasty concussion. 

Once Juzo was dealt with, Fuyuhiko got off the floor. Some of the blood from Juzo’s wounds had gotten on his face and his shirt and a bruise was already blossoming on his throat, but he wasn’t done yet. He found Peko in the chaos of gunfire and made his way towards her. She had already done a good number on some of Munakata’s bodyguards and her guards took care of the rest. Fuyuhiko just stood next to her for a minute, admiring the moonlight in her hair and the calm determination on his face before taking out his knife again and stabbing any enemy that tried to come for her back and somehow made it through her other guards. It was a good arrangement. He had her back and she had his, and nowhere in the midst of the operation had either of them turned on each other. 

He could trust Peko. 

He could trust her. 

The rest of Munakata’s men, Munakata included, left the premises. The few remaining gamblers who hadn’t made it to the door then looked at Peko, wide-eyed and terrified. 

“This casino is now run by the Pekoyama clan.” She said, her voice calm and clear in the chaos of the night. “My associates here will finish setting things up. You may all continue your games, and have a lovely evening.” With that, she head towards the door. Fuyuhiko, not caring to gamble much more for the night, followed her into the limo. 

Once he got in, he took a deep breath. That was terrifying. Exhilarating. An adventure. A horror show. The best and worst date he ever had. The only date he ever had, if it even counted as a date. And Peko was beautiful. Horrifying. Lovely and simple but also so extraordinarily powerful, like a hurricane as a human. Fuyuhiko had never wanted to kiss another person more in his life. He had also never been so scared of another person in his life. 

“Holy shit.” He said, that being the only analysis of the situation he could come up with at the moment. “You got any other casinos to take over tonight? I could do that again.”

“Your neck says otherwise.” Peko told him as the limo started to drive away from the casino and head towards the Ritz. “How much money did you manage to get from Sakakura?”

“150,000 yen, give or take a few hundred on either side. I played at being an amatuer, which pissed him off more than me just being myself would have. He thought he was getting his ass beat by a bored high school student.” Fuyuhiko opened his wallet to show off the cash, and Peko gave him an impressed smirk. 

“And then he actually got his ass beat.” She noted. “I saw him on the ground. It must’ve been a good fight.”

“It was easier than it would’ve been if he hadn’t been distracted. You were right about that.” Fuyuhiko didn’t feel the same disgusted feeling he normally got when he admitted that people were right. It just felt natural to say it. 

Before Peko could respond, the casino took a sharp right turn and suddenly, their faces were mere inches apart. Peko looked at Fuyuhiko, the red tie around his neck and the dark red of blood on his face and the glaring red of the bruise forming on his neck and the red of the cards that stuck out of the pocket of his suit jacket and the electric red of the neon of the city lights behind him. 

“You know,” She began, her hand resting on his tie. “Red really is your color.”

It was impossible to say who moved first, if Peko pulled him forward or if Fuyuhiko leaned in or if it was a combination of the two, but soon, they were kissing and the whole world was bright red. 

***

The next morning, Fuyuhiko had two bruises. One on his neck from Sakakura and one on his lips from Peko. He couldn’t even lie and say that he minded the second one. In fact, he would’ve traded the whole world for more of them. 

***

_fuyuhiko has texted yakuza princess_

fuyuhiko: Busy next Friday? I heard about a place in Yokohama you might want to take a look at. 

yakuza princess: I’ll take a look at it. Send the address to Genji and I’ll meet you there at eight. 

yakuza princess: And wear another red tie, if you have one. It looks nice when we match.


End file.
